No Romance Required (17 page)

She just couldn’t handle being there with Cory. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

At least the place looked great. Fall-themed decorations were everywhere. A square
for dancing was sectioned off with white lights, and the seating area looped around
the loaded buffet table. A gigantic ornamental tree—purchased from Value Hardware’s
garden section—stood in one corner, and a chugging train wound around the base. She’d
remembered that Cory’s stepfather was a train aficionado so she’d scoured the shops
for the perfect set. She hoped he’d want to take it with him to Arizona.

More glittery potted trees dripped with twinkling lights, and each table held a lit
arrangement of cinnamon pinecones and fresh fall flowers, thanks to Lex. On the portico
off the main room stood another smaller tree, its lights a warm beacon in the night.
Now if the promised rain just held off, it would be perfect.

Jill appeared beside her, a vibrating laser beam already set on stun. She wore a slip
dress that proved she had
way
more curves than Vicky and little hesitation in showing them off. “Your studly brother
didn’t come with?”

“No. You know he’s not in town now. Stop trolling.”

Jill’s laugh made Vicky impulsively draw her into her arms. Jill hugged her back.
“Hey, what’s this for?”

“I needed a hug.”

“You okay?” Jill stepped back. “We’ve been running around trying to get this place
ready, and there hasn’t been much time to talk lately.”

Vicky smiled and wrapped an arm around Jill’s shoulders. She truly was the little
sister she’d never had and she’d break the fingers of any man who ever hurt her. “I’m
fine. You’re sure you can handle all this?”

Jill gave her a thumbs-up. “Under control, boss. Are you sure you have to go?”

“I have a whole wardrobe of bikinis that say yes.” Vicky grinned and stepped away.
“Thanks for taking care of this. You’re the best.”

Jill nodded, her blue eyes surprisingly bright. “Look, you know I hate mush, but I
wanted you to know that I appreciate your trying to stand in for my mom. You don’t
have to do it, and you never give up even when I make you crazy. I love you, Vick.”
She sighed heavily. “I promise not to do anything bad while you’re gone. Well, within
reason.”

Vicky guffawed out a laugh and drew Jill into a hug. “You silly girl. I love you,
too.

Jill edged back and glanced at her watch, a rare move for her party-all-the-time best
friend. Time usually meant little to Jill. She reminded Vicky of how she’d been as
a girl, and the parallels really made her nervous. The cops still foot-patrolled the
water tower. Maybe because of her.

Probably because of her.

“Shouldn’t you be going? It’s getting late.”

Well, yeah, she had been about to head home, but why did it feel like Jill was hurrying
her to leave? “I still have hours until—”

“There are new regulations. If you’re late to the airport, you never know what will
happen with the security peeps.” Jill tugged on her arm. “You better hustle.”

Shaking her head, Vicky grinned. Maybe Jill really was that worried she’d miss her
flight. How cute. “Fine, I’m outta here, brat. Be good.”

She rushed home to finish packing. She’d gotten a good start on it last night. Now
if she could just find her white slip-on shoes, she’d be all set.

At a loss, she shimmied under her bed to see if they were there. Instead, she found
an unsticky sticky note bearing familiar handwriting.

Hey babe, so sorry I couldn’t talk to you before I left. There’s a problem that can’t
wait, and I didn’t want to wake you. I wore you out last night. Call me when you get
up, okay?

And then the pièce de résistance—a smiley face. From
Cory
.

Her throat clogged and she rolled on her back, holding the note to her chest. This
changed things. It wasn’t a declaration of love, far from it, but he’d tried to keep
the lines of communication open. He hadn’t just ditched her as if nothing important
had happened the night before.

Dammit, she needed sticky notes that actually had some sticky left. That’s why this
one had ended up under the bed.

She got to her knees and glanced at her watch. The party for his parents had just
started, and her flight was only a few hours away. Maybe she should just let sleeping
moguls lie and deal with this when she got back. Perhaps by then she’d have come up
with an idea of how to proceed.

She puttered around for a bit, making sure the plants were watered and the stove was
off. Then when there was nothing left to do, she got her overstuffed carry-on bag
and turned out all of the lights except the one in the living room. She gazed at the
couch, remembering the night almost four weeks ago that Cory had appeared at her doorway
with his insane plan. That had become her plan, then theirs. She’d told herself she
was going to launch this all-out bid to seduce him, and instead she’d been seduced
herself. The loss of control had been staggering—and freeing. He’d told her he had
her, and maybe he did. Maybe he would, if she let him.

Sighing, she turned off the last light and headed to the front door. Her reluctance
to leave didn’t make sense. Cory wasn’t coming to make some declaration. He wasn’t
that sort of man. If she knew anything, she knew that much.

When the doorbell rang, she startled. Whoa, active fantasy life. Then it rang again
and she blinked, wondering what twilight zone she’d tripped into.

She slapped on the porch light and grabbed the knob, a smile already curving her mouth.
Could she have been wrong? Could Cory really be on the other side? Pulling the door
open, she readied herself to launch into Cory’s arms—only to see the glowering face
of her brother.

“Dammit, I’m here. He needs to cool his fuckin’ jets already. I said I would do it,
and I did.” While she gaped, her brother shoved a small white card at her. “Read that.”

Chapter Fifteen

Vicky stared at Bryan’s outstretched hand as though he’d presented her with a live
grenade. “What is that?”

“A card, last I checked. Open it.”

“Wait a second.” Vicky set down her carry-on. “Why are you here? The team—”

“Our game’s Monday night. I’m flying back in the morning to watch from the sidelines.”
Bryan smiled at her in the faint glow from the porch light. “I’m fine,” he added when
she just continued to split her stare between the card and Bryan’s tired eyes. “Really.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“Gee, thanks. Considering I just got off a plane that was delayed twice due to thunderstorms,
and also considering your man’s been blowing up my phone with demands I stop ‘fucking
with his plans,’ I think I look pretty damn good.” He dropped his duffel bag between
his feet and pushed a hand through his sandy hair.

He was right. While he didn’t look like the grinning, carefree Bryan she’d always
known, he still had those rugged, handsome looks that drew women to him in flocks.
Like her best friend. Jill had caught a couple glimpses of him over the years, and
though the two had never even talked, she couldn’t stop working his name into not-so-casual
conversation. That was Jill. Always on the make.

Then the rest of Bryan’s statement sunk in.
Her man
?

“Do I have a man?” she whispered.

Bryan waved his phone. “I have about thirty texts that say yes. Now will you read
that damn card so you can get a move on and I can use your damn bathroom? A man’s
bladder is at stake here.”

She had to laugh as she opened the card with fingers that shook. One glance at Cory’s
neat, precise handwriting and she wanted to laugh harder—or hurl in sheer terror.

Romance in public, or romance in private?
If you’d choose private, turn to page two.
If you’d choose public, turn to page three.

Bemused, Vicky turned to page three.
Would you prefer a big gesture, or something more intimate but in a public setting?

She flipped to the page of the answer she chose.
What kind of big gesture would you prefer? An extravagant display of romance or a
dramatic getaway for two?

This question had three options. Option one, option two, or both. She picked both
and then stared at the words blurring in front of her tired eyes.
Please return this card immediately for prompt romance gesture handling. Thank you.
See you Saturday night
.

Belly trembling with a mixture of excitement and nerves, she shot her gaze to her
brother, who was watching her with wary green eyes. “What the hell is this? And what
does he mean, he’ll see me Saturday night? It’s Saturday night right now, and he’s
not seeing me. I’m on my way to South Carolina—”

“Yeah, and Jill told him that as soon as you told her you were leaving town for a
few days. She’s been helping him out with this romance business.” Bryan rolled his
eyes. “And so have I, though not to his liking.”

“We faked the relationship, Bry. We were never really together.” Though they had been,
in all the ways that counted. They’d just been too stubborn and blind to admit it.

Bryan barely flinched. “Yeah, Cory told me all that when he called me to get my ‘blessing’
to be with my sister. Which I told him was pretty freaking redundant, considering
he’d already humped you in front of the whole world and I hadn’t blessed
any
of that crap.”

A giggle escaped her, but her brother wasn’t done yet.

“Cory shuffled his plans after he made sure I was still coming in for the party and
for a special meet-up with Dr. Garvey tomorrow. Now I’m here, so fuckin’ late the
party’s probably almost over and he’s busting a nut trying to make sure he meets you
at gate C.”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t mean he busted a nut over this. That has a very different
connotation.” Vicky’s lips twitched as she accepted the e-tickets Bryan handed her.
“Bora Bora? Four days from now?”

“Yeah, guess he’s going with you to South Carolina. Jill helped him book a ticket
on your flight. Then he booked tix for Bora Bora for a few more days, which was his
plan before you screwed things up by setting up your own trip and not going to the
party.”

If her head spun any more, it was going to topple right off her shoulders. No doubt
about it.

“He’s losing his shit because I was late,” Bryan continued, oblivious to her mental
turmoil. “He’s already at the airport and refused to leave in case you showed up.
I told him I could just stay there and he could try to find you here, but he has a
precise order he needs stuff done in and I guess I messed it up. Like I control the
weather.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Whatever. The dude needs to chill. It’s
just a vacation.”

Everything crashed in on her at once. Their breakup, finding Cory’s note under her
bed, Cory’s grand gesture. That he was waiting for her at the airport, like a scene
out of a movie. A screwy one, granted, considering all the obstacles they’d had to
get to this point, but wasn’t that what made the best endings?

They even had a guy desperate to pee at the end of their flick, like any good theatergoer
who couldn’t bear to get up before the closing credits. It was practically perfect.

Oh, God, what if she was about to get everything she’d ever wanted?

Her head swam and she reached out for something, anything, to steady her. She gripped
her brother’s strong biceps, swaying forward until she could drop her forehead to
his chest. Closer to his upper stomach actually, since he was so freakishly tall.
“I’m going to faint.”

Without faltering, he picked her up in one arm and his bag in the other and somehow
got both of them inside. As he limped back to shut the door, her face crumpled even
more. Her poor brother. What was he going to do if he couldn’t play football anymore?
“You can’t flip out right now,” he told her in his sternest big-brother voice. “You
have a plane to catch.”

That did it. Forget fainting, she was sobbing.

She rushed forward and pressed her face against Bryan’s familiar-smelling team jersey.
While she let out all her tears, he awkwardly patted her back and murmured soft, soothing
things. The roar in her ears blocked out most of them.

When she finally got herself together, she glanced up at his reassuring—and confused
as hell—face and blurted out the words she’d held in too long. She wasn’t going to
let the fear of losing those she loved rule her for even a moment longer. “I have
to tell you about Mom.”

…

She wasn’t coming.

Cory paced near gate C, his carry-on in one hand and a balloon in the other. A frigging
balloon
.

His stomach was so knotted he couldn’t even drink the swill they called coffee. He
just paced, and watched the time, and clutched his balloon like a security blanket
on a string.

If she didn’t come, that was it. He was giving up romance entirely. Obviously he wasn’t
meant to plan grand gestures. She clearly didn’t feel the way he did for her, and
she’d made her stand loud and proud. Bryan had delivered the card, and she’d decided
to ignore his overture. Once he pulled the dagger out of his chest, perhaps he’d even
learn to accept that.

Hell
no
, he would not accept it.

He tossed his bag over his shoulder. He was going to go to Vicky’s town house and
make her understand that, yes, he was an ass, but he was the ass who lo—

“Boo.”

His heart and feet thudded to a halt. That whispered “boo” had come from right behind
him. Halloween was still a month away. Ghosts shouldn’t be accosting him in airports
yet.

That meant only one thing.

He pivoted to face Victoria, his sweaty grip faltering on his balloon. She tilted
her head at his symbolic offering. “‘Get well’? Am I sick?”

No, she was not ill in any shape or form that he could tell. She’d pulled her sunny
hair up in a high ponytail and wore a Mariners jersey with jeans and flats. Casual,
traveling clothes. She still sparkled more brightly than the diamond that glinted
in her nose.

Or the one in his pants pocket.

Rather than share his relief that she’d arrived—and that she didn’t seem to loathe
the very sight of him—he thrust the balloon in her direction. “They didn’t have any
others left. Besides, see the heart?”

Her eyes widened as she accepted the balloon and studied the heart on the side that
didn’t say “Get well.”

“Oh. Yes. Lovely. Uh, thank you?”

Her genuine puzzlement made him grin. To hell with being cool. He dropped his bag
and hauled her off her feet into his arms, planting a kiss on her mouth that turned
her sputters into soft, eager moans in a minute flat.

Maybe thirty seconds.

“Missed you,” she mumbled between kisses.

“Missed you more.”

“I didn’t see your note, the one you left the morning after the spark party.” He would’ve
laughed, had he had cooperating brain cells left. “That’s why I was so pissed. It
was under my bed, and I just found it tonight. I thought you’d just bailed on me,
that none of it was real—”

“It’s all real,” he breathed against her warm, glossed lips.

She nodded, eyes bright. “Can we not fight for a while?”

He cocked a brow. “How long’s a while?”

Her grin returned, though this time it was sly. She stepped away long enough to tie
her balloon to the nearest chair. “Okay. Let’s renegotiate. We’ll argue only when
we can make up immediately.”

“So we’ll fight only in the bedroom to ensure a horizontal space is always available?”
He tugged on her ponytail. “Doable.”

“Oh yes, you are.” Laughing, she pressed her mouth to his and kissed him until he
forgot they were in the airport, forgot they were in Pennsylvania, forgot even that
he wasn’t weightless and floating in space. Her hungry kisses were his only tether
to reality.

But he had things to say. Important, headache-producing things.

When he pulled back and stared into her whiskey-brown eyes, already glazed with pleasure,
pieces he hadn’t even known had broken loose inside him simply locked into place.
Suddenly he wasn’t scared anymore. He couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “I love
you. For real.”

She blinked quickly, but not quickly enough to dispel the sheen of tears. “I love
you, too. For real.”

The biggest grin he’d ever grinned spread across his face. “Really?”

“Yeah.” She sniffled and poked him in the chest. “Either that or I’m in it for your
big—” he braced as she smirked “—telescope.”

“Jesus, Vic.” Laughing with her, he tugged her into his arms and brushed a kiss over
her sweetly fragranced hair. She smelled like home. Like everything he’d ever wanted.
“I shouldn’t have forced your hand in my office. Shouldn’t have been so rough, shouldn’t
have demanded you choose—”

“Choose what?” she asked softly.

“Me,” he murmured, shutting his eyes.

She edged back and laid her hand on his jaw until he opened them. “I choose you every
time. I always will.”

The lump in his throat threatened to block his airflow. Instead of sputtering out
what was sure to be an inadequate reply, he fumbled out the black box and pulled her
closer. He was supposed to do this on bended knee, but since it wasn’t technically
an engagement, he could cheat. Anything so he could hold on to her a few minutes more.

At her gasp, he shook his head and popped the top. “Don’t panic. This isn’t an engagement
ring.”

She stared at the star-shaped diamond surrounded by rubies, her birthstone. He’d gotten
the idea from that starfish necklace she wore all the time and hoped like hell she
didn’t hate it. The jeweler had worked miracles to acquire an acceptable piece in
such a short amount of time. “It sure looks like one to me.”

“It’s a pre-engagement ring. I didn’t want to freak you out. I know we haven’t been,
uh, seeing each other long and I wanted to give you time—”

“For what?”

That was a good question. They were both decisive people. Why pussyfoot around when
they both knew what they wanted? Or at least he knew, and maybe she knew, too.

He tugged her closer and gazed into her guileless eyes. The honesty and love beaming
back at him staggered him and made him want to be the man she deserved. “Will you
marry me?”

She didn’t hesitate. “You bet your fine ass, Cory Santangelo.” Then she giggled. “Oops.
I mean yes.”

The band around his chest released, and he let out a hiss of breath. “Okay, then.
Good. One more thing.”

“You think I’m disappointed our wedding night won’t be white?” She stroked his cheek.
“No worries, honey. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t save yourself for me.”

As much as he wanted to laugh, he wanted to get his next words out more. “I bought
my parents’ farm, Vic. It’s ours. If you want to live there. And I promise you, I’m
not going to be like I used to be—only coming home to sleep, and barely even that.
I want a real life with you, away from work.” His lips quirked. “I’ll even let you
put my old solar system up in our bedroom, if you insist.”

She grabbed her head. “Here it goes again.” She took a couple of unsteady breaths.
“All right. Yes. I’m lucid.”

“Positive sign,” he murmured, unsure if he should grin or frown.

“Sorry for my freak-the-fuck-out dizzy spell. They keep coming and going tonight.”

“I can get you a paper bag—”

She waved him off. “I told Bryan about our mom. He doesn’t hate me. I don’t think.”
She blew out another breath. “It’s like my family is coming together all at once.
Like I actually
have
a family again.” As his chest tightened once more, she nodded. “God, yes, I want
to live with you on your family’s farm. I want to make it ours. And I want glow-in-the-dark
cling-ons on the ceiling over the bed.”

“You’re on.” He pried out the ring and slipped it on her finger. “It fits.”